


Since the Moment We Met

by Miicah



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5071102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miicah/pseuds/Miicah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which everyone knew Barry and Iris were in a relationship except for Barry and Iris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Since the Moment We Met

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this originally for Spooky Flash Week Day 1, and though I legit had actual fake dating story ideas (two to be specific!) my mind sorta thought of a twist and it turned into this lmao I didn't think it fell into the prompt so yeah, here it is!

“Are you sure it’s all right?”

Barry glanced over at Iris from his seat beside her; she wasn’t looking at him, but he could see the anxious expression on her face reflecting off of the window that she  _was_  facing. They were on a train heading back to their hometown of Central City. It was Thanksgiving weekend and it was sort of tradition for the both of them to go home and spend it with family, but Iris’ father Joe had been called onto a police case in Star City at the last minute and Barry refused to let his best friend spend it alone in their shared apartment off campus. So he had invited her to spend the holiday with his family, and though the journalist major student had been both ecstatic and grateful for the invite she was also nervous—despite being practically attached to the hip ever since they had  _literally_  bumped into each other on the first day of their freshman year, Iris had never met his parents before.

Reaching over, the double major student grabbed the woman’s closest hand and rubbed comforting circles over the smooth skin. “For the millionth time, Iris, yes, it’s perfectly fine. You won’t be the first person I’ve brought over, and my parents will simply adore you—who wouldn’t?”

Iris turned away from the passing scenery—it was hard to see it much anyway, what with the dark of night creeping in and the bright lights inside the train—to smile warmly at him, appreciative of both the compliment and his efforts to calm her down. Gently squeezing his fingers in silent thanks, she relaxed slightly in her seat, sitting back. “Says the most biased person ever,” she teased before sitting up straight in shock as she thought of something. “Oh, my god, I didn’t bring anything to give them! Do you think we could stop at the supermarket or the liquor store for a loaf of fancy bread of some wine or something?”

Well, he didn’t think it was biased if it was true, as were most of the things he said about Iris were, but Barry forwent starting that endless argument to laugh as she started to freak out again. “I’m pretty sure everything’s closed by now. Besides, I think you getting drunk will be the last thing you want. Just make those mouth-watering brownies of yours for desert and you’ll be golden.”

Not wanting to let go of his hand, the petite woman reached over with her free one to punch him lightly at the comment. It wasn’t fair that he had seen her intoxicated more times than she had him. And it was wine, not beer or shots—it’s not as if she would’ve drank enough of it to get wasted. But she had to admit, he had a point—she’d like to be sober for this meeting. Glowing at yet another praise thrown in her direction, Iris wasn’t sure if she was warm from the words or something else but she sure hoped his parents liked her baking half as much as their son did. “You’re such a glutton—I  _still_  don’t know how you’re not fat.”

“Don’t be jealous of my mad skills.”

“It’s not a skill!” she retorted, starting an impromptu fight about nothing that was more fun than serious, but helped take her mind off everything all the same.

That was, until the cab they took once they reached the station pulled up in front of the Allen house. As Barry took their bags out from the trunk, Iris paid the driver the fare—her best friend had given her more than enough to pay for them both but she was having none of that, paying everything with her own cash; it was the least she could do when he’s letting her stay with him for free.

Ever the gentleman, he held onto both of their bags as they walked up to the door, and she knocked on the door for him seeing as his hands were full. They heard a muffled, “Coming!” through the door, and shortly after it opened to reveal a beautiful redheaded woman, an apron around her waist and a pair of oven mitts in one hand.

“Oh, Barry!” his mother greeted cheerfully as she pulled him in for a tight hug, taking care not to rub the mess on her clothes onto him. She looked back briefly to call out, “Henry!” before returning her attention to her son. “How was your trip?”

“It was fine, mom,” Barry replied with a fake sigh at her babying him still, even at twenty-one (though he would always love and appreciate it), smiling warmly as he stepped back from her embrace before his attention was moved to the older man that approached the doorway. “Hey, dad.”

“Slugger! How’re you?” Henry’s grin was wide, and he patted his son on the back as they also hugged before looking around them with a confused look on his face. “I thought you were bringing someone with you?”

It was Barry’s turn to be puzzled, but as he turned to glance at his best friend a huge smirk began to pull on his lips. Iris instantly followed his train of thought and she would’ve kicked him in the shins if it wasn’t for the fact that she would make a bad impression right in front of his parents.

“I did! You just couldn’t  _see_  her behind me and all. Sorry, she’s always telling me to stop standing in front of her because of this.  Mom, dad, I’d like you to meet Iris West. Iris, my parents.”

Iris managed to stick her tongue out at Barry before he moved to the side as he introduced them (she will definitely get him back later for indirectly calling her short), and she gave the two older adults a genuine smile as she stepped forward and held her hand out towards them. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Allen! It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you! Barry always speaks highly of you. Thank you so much for letting me spend the holidays with your family.”

The petite female didn’t miss the surprised expressions and shared glances the Allens gave to one another, but Iris didn’t have too much time to dwell on it as they quickly gave her a warm reception.

“The pleasure is all ours,” Henry assured, a twinkle in his eye as he seemed to look knowingly at Barry.

“Nonsense, Iris, you’re practically like family already the way Barry goes on about you—”

“Okay!” Barry hastily interrupted his mom before she could say anything more; if his hands weren’t full he would’ve clapped his hands together to physically halt the conversation. “If we’re going to embarrass me, can we not do it out in the cold on our front porch?”

“Where are my manners? Come in you two!” Nora ushered the two inside, promptly closing the front door before relieving them of their coats. “I guess you can show Iris the guest room, Barry, and get yourselves settled in.”

“Or your room,” Henry added, shrugging sheepishly as his wife slowly turned around to give him a look that the older man knew said ‘don’t force them’. “I mean, if that’s how you kids roll. Or both. Or the whole house. Just give a tour. Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

“Right…” Barry dragged out, exchanging his own glance with his best friend.

“Well, I’d actually love to help you cook if you’ll have me, Mrs. Allen,” Iris offered. “Barry said I could treat you guys to my famous brownies, too, if you haven’t got anything planned.”

“That would be wonderful! I’d love that. I’ll go fetch you an apron.” Nora smiled warmly at her before disappearing back into the kitchen.

“I’ll see you in the living room later, then. We’ve got a lot to discuss,” Henry said to his son, patting him on the back once more before and giving a nod to Iris before he also left.

When they were both gone Barry let out a sigh of relief and led the way upstairs. “I am  _so_  sorry about that,” he apologized. “My parents aren’t usually like this.”

“I thought they were sweet. But you—” Iris paused long enough to slap her best friend in the arm a couple of times, reveling in the groans he made when she did so. “—Making fun of my height like that! I’m going to make sure I see every baby photo and hear every embarrassing story about you that there is!”

“…Totally worth it,” he fake whispered to himself, laughing hard when she hit him once more. By the time they reached his bedroom it had died down, and as he opened the door he asked, “You okay with just dump everything in my room till we figure it out later?”

Iris nodded absentmindedly, too absorbed in touring around his room to pay full attention. It was like being a museum, seeing what hadn’t changed and what made him into the man she knew today; maybe it was the journalist in her, maybe it was just because it was Barry, but it was completely fascinating to her. Instead of stopping her, Barry had taken to leaning against his desk and watching her contently, until he eventually broke the silence. “I should make you pay admission,” he teased.

A soft smile graced his best friend’s lips, and she moved her gaze off of his stuff and onto him. “I’d pay to see this, but I’d rather you let me in of your own volition.”

There was a sincerity in her voice and an intense emotion that he couldn’t quite name in her eyes that sent shivers down Barry’s spine—if only she knew he would always be an open book with her and her alone—until the intimacy of it all became too much for him and he cleared his throat, pushing off of the wall. “Well, can’t bare my soul on an empty stomach, so we should get you down to the kitchen before I wither and die away.”

A flicker of pain seemed to flicker through Iris’ eyes and reverberate through her body, from the thin line her lips made to the silent sigh her mouth let out to the slight slumping of her shoulders. Barry wondered if he shouldn’t have made a joke and ruin the moment, but before he could try and rectify it Iris had rolled her eyes and laughed, walking towards him and the door he stood near.

“And we can’t have that, can we?” she teased back. “You’re like the only guy I know who has a one-track mind for food instead of girls.”

It was more that Barry was covering talking about girls with food, and it was more like only one girl, one  _woman_ , that took over his every waking thought and his every subconscious dream, but he didn’t bother correcting his best friend. He had lost his chance when he had forced the conversation into lighter territory, and hadn’t yet found the courage, even after two years, to tell her the truth. Instead, he pushed her playfully, and they waved to each other once they got downstairs and went their separate ways.

“I was beginning to think the two of you got lost,” Nora commented with a smile when Iris finally walked into the kitchen.

Iris laughed as she put on the apron the other woman had left out of her before moving to the sink to wash her hands. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Allen—time always seems to fly when I’m around your son.”

The look that she and her husband had shared back when they first met was back in the older woman’s eyes, warm and pleased and knowing. “Nora, please. And I was just teasing you, dear. Can you help me chop these veggies before you start preparing that desert?”

The college student couldn’t help but laugh as she shook her head—she could see where Barry got his knack for teasing people from. “Of course, Nora. That’s what I’m here for!”

It was almost scary how natural it was to fall into a comfortable silence with someone you had just met, and Iris wasn’t sure if it was how at ease Nora could make a person or if the future journalist just instantly meshed with anyone with the last name of Allen, but she knew that when the other woman spoke it was more out of curiosity than feeling she had to say something to fill the void.

“So, if my intel from son is accurate, he says you’re majoring in journalism? How’s that going for you?”

Iris felt her cheeks heat up—did he really talk about her to his parents?—and she hoped her hands weren’t shaking from shock, pride or nervousness as she answered. “Yeah, well, I’ve been told I’m too curious for my own good, so I figured I might as well get paid for snooping.” The two women shared a laugh and Iris shrugged as she continued. “Barry actually nudged me into it. I started out with psychology and I took journalism as an elective as per his suggestion and I felt like I found my calling. Words can be powerful and save people and take down bad guys and spread hope. I’m happy I can be a part of that.”

The young woman’s passion was almost so palpable that Nora felt like she could reach out and touch it. It was so energizing that it brought a smile to her face, and she was sure it was one of the many reasons that drew people to Iris. “I can see why Barry likes you.”

If she was ever going to get a verbal seal of approval from Barry’s mom, Iris figured that was as close as she might get. She could’ve laughed at how worried she was about it, but it turned out she didn’t even have to break out the chocolate-y desert to get on Nora’s good side. Instead of jumping up and down like she wanted to, Iris pulled in some restraint and maturity and calmly continued chopping vegetables. “Yeah, well, the feeling’s mutual,” she said, thinking the mother meant platonically but wishing it was more than one on her best friend’s part.

“So, when did you two start dating?”

Caught so off guard by the question, Iris missed her mark and cut her finger instead of the edible plants, eliciting a sharp hiss from her and a loud shout from Nora. Dropping what she was doing, the older woman quickly moved towards Iris, and it wasn’t long before footsteps were heard coming down the hall, alerted of trouble from Nora’s outburst.

“What is it? What happened?” Barry asked worriedly as Henry zeroed in on the pooling blood and went into doctor mode.

Replacing his wife’s position, he gingerly took hold of the injured finger and ran it under the tap to clean off the blood so he could take a better look at the damage. To her credit, Iris didn’t cry, but her eyes shone from the unshed tears in her eyes. “You got yourself pretty good there; it’s deep, but not enough for stitches. It’s still bleeding, though, so it’s best to get it cleaned up and—”

Before Henry could finish Barry had grabbed Iris by her injured hand and swiftly led her to the nearest bathroom, lowering the lid of the toilet seat so she could sit on it as he ransacked the medicine cabinet for disinfectant and bandages. “You’re not usually so clumsy in the kitchen,” he managed to say through clenched teeth.

Iris narrowed her eyes at him, sensing his anger, but she also knew it wasn’t exactly at her directly but rather the fact that she was hurt, so she let it go for something more pressing. “Yeah, well, I don’t usually get asked by someone’s mother when I started dating their son, either. Did you tell her that?” If she was supposed to be his fake girlfriend, she would’ve liked a heads up so she could’ve had some time to get over the heartbreak because she knew she would’ve done anything for him.

Barry stilled, and his best friend knew that if his hands weren’t full with the supplies he had just found he would be going through his multitude of nervous ticks he had that involved said hands. “She said that?” he whispered, biting the inside of his cheek as he kneeled down in front of her and focused a little too hard on the items in his hands to avoid looking at her. “Iris, I _swear_ , I never told her or my dad anything about you being my girlfriend. But…” He paused in his ministrations, taking a deep breath as if he psyche himself up before he looked up at her. “…That doesn’t mean I didn’t wish it were true.”

Her breath caught in her throat and now the tears that were in her eyes were for a completely different reason. “Bear…”

“I’ve been trying to think of ways to tell you since… _forever_ , it feels like, and this definitely wasn’t one of them, but I can’t let you think that I’d ever want a romantic relationship with you to be fake for a second.”

Iris let out a laugh, causing some of her tears to finally fall down her cheeks, but she ignored them so that she never missed a moment of looking at the man before her. “Well good, because I’d rather be in a real relationship with you than a fake one.”

The double-major student stared up at her, half-hopeful but half-afraid to get his hopes up. “Does that mean…?”

“That I’d love to be your girlfriend? Yes!” Iris exclaimed, and she raised her hands, wanting to cup his face with them but stopped abruptly when they noticed blood was still dripping from her cut finger.

Barry’s eyes widened and he fumbled as he hastily wet a cotton ball with some disinfectant. “Oh, my god, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot! This is gonna sting a little bit,” he warned as he cleaned her wound, murmuring a soft sorry as she grimaced but was otherwise silent. After that was done, he wrapped a band aid around it and lifted the finger to his lips to childishly kiss it better. “There, can’t have you dying on me the first sixty seconds of being together.”

Iris lifted her free hand and tapped her bottom lip, and she grinned at the confused look that spread across her best friend’s (and now boyfriend’s) face. “My lips hurt, too. Will you kiss it better for me?”

He laughed—he couldn’t believe how dorky they were. It wasn’t exactly how he planned their first kiss, in the bathroom of his parents’ home with Iris sitting on a toilet but hey, nothing that night went as planned, and he sure wasn’t going to be choosey after imaging this very moment for so long. So Barry crouched forward, lifting a hand to comb through the silky strands of her hair to rest at the back of her neck, half-propelling her forward towards him, though the action wasn’t entirely necessary as Iris was leaning forward to meet him halfway.

It was a sweet, chaste, peck of the lips at first, but it was as if something had literally sparked between them that it not a half-second later their lips met again with more need and want, subconsciously tilting their heads in opposite directions so that their mouths fit even more perfectly than before. Barry swept his tongue over her lips, distantly tasting that double-shot Americano she had before they left, before slipping the organ in her warm cavern where he fully got to sample the espresso she drank. It felt so good to Iris, every swirl and suck and nip of her lips that he made that she couldn’t suppress the shiver that went through her. She was pretty sure if she moved forward any further she’d be in his lap and as bad as that _didn’t_ sound she’d like to have her clothes on the next time she saw Barry’s parents, which would be any minute now if they spent any more time in the bathroom.

“Your mom’s going to think I fell in the toilet,” Iris said, broken up as it was spoken in between kisses when they had to pull apart for air but said all the same.

“Not completely outside the realm of possibilities, you being so tiny and all,” he teased as he moved to dot her jaw line with his kisses. Barry laughed when she hit him and it was almost physically painful for him to pull away from her but he finally conceded. “Okay, buzz kill, let’s go back.” Their hands found one another as they walked back to the kitchen, fingers intertwining, and they noticed the blood was all cleaned up when they arrived. Barry’s parents, who were speaking in hushed tones to one another, broke apart when they saw the two return.

“Oh, Iris, I am _so_ sorry for what happened earlier. I just assumed…”

“Actually…” Iris started, grinning as she looked over at Barry. “I can answer your question. Officially, we’ve been together, what, five minutes?”

“Five minutes and fifty-two seconds,” Barry supplied, “But who’s counting?”

Letting out a laugh, she rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, revelling in the feeling of her boyfriend’s thumb making circles across the skin of her hand. “But unofficially, it’s like…”

“…We’ve been together since the moment we met,” he finished her sentence, and they shared a smile before leaning in for a kiss.

Henry and Nora looked at each other and shared their own smile before he tugged his wife close and planted a kiss on her temple, watching their son and his new girlfriend with pride and glee.

(When they went back to school and told their friends that they were now together, most just rolled their eyes as if they had been expecting the news for ages—Iris fully recalls Linda muttering, “Finally.”

Only Cisco seemed to be affronted by it. “Wait, you two are only getting together _now_? I thought y’all were a thing from the start! That’s the only reason I didn’t hit on you, Iris. Hey, where are you guys going? This is not a joke!”)

**Author's Note:**

> Cisco's part in the end was just stemmed from him saying, "She's hot." in the Pilot lmao


End file.
